Reducing Teacher Absences

I just read with great interest an article in this week's "Education Week" (April 30, 2008) entitled "District Experiment With Cutting Down On Teacher Absence" in which several strategies to reduce teacher absence were discussed. An overall strategy mentioned in this article, and one that I have had a great deal of success with deals with the effect of school climate on teacher attendance.


Lets face it, teachers are people too and they have lives outside of their teaching responsibilities. I mention the obvious because some people often forget this fact. It is a given that young teachers with young children will be absent from time to time to care for a sick child. It is equally expected that teachers will get sick or have to deal with personal tragedies during the course of their adult lives. These are not the types of absences that I'm referring to. The discretionary absences of teachers that I feel can be minimized are generally due to mental & physical fatigue and a feeling of not being appreciated by school administration.


The first step is to make certain that both students and staff feel safe in your school. Even if its only a perception, being concerned about your personal safety is draining and redirects energies away from the classroom. You don't want your teachers dragging themselves out at the end of the school day looking like they've just been through a war. You also want to empower your teachers so that they become stake holders in the future of your school. This way when situations arise, it's not the administration's problem, it's everyone's problem.


Inclement weather is a perfect opportunity for you to improve your relationship with your staff and therefore improve teacher attendance in the future. During inclement weather many teachers travel long hours to get to work. In order to limit the stress that this causes make certain that if you provide parking for your staff that the parking lot is clear. Don't reprimand teachers who arrive late. In fact you should greet them when they arrive. Provide a free, beverage i.e. tea, coffee, juice for them in the teachers lounge with your complements. Don't punish the teachers who came to work by piling on extra coverages or cafeteria duty. As Principal it might not be a bad idea for you to cover a few classes yourself. This helps to reinforce the "we" mentality that you are trying to foster. On snowy days I would always issue xeroxed "Snowbird Awards" as my way of thanking my staff for braving the elements to come to work. While they viewed there award as cute, many teachers told me that they appreciated the recognition.


Sometimes, a teacher will ask you if it's o.k. to bring their child to school. While often the answer to this question is dictated by district policy, you as Principal may have some descretion in this area. Your answer may mean the difference between a teachers program being covered by a substitute or the regular class room teacher.


These are just a few suggestion for building staff morale and as a result reducing decretionary absences. Providing a safe environment where teachers feel that they are a valued member of your team will go a long way to improve staff attendance.